Fall Issue of Shenandoah Now Available

By Julie ClineDecember 8, 2016

Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review released its fall 2016 digital issue on Dec. 1. Volume 66, Number 1 includes original poetry, fiction, essays, reviews and visual art, as well as four Poems of the Week per month.

Shenandoah also features a blog titled “Snopes,” with reflections by editors, interns and guests on issues of interest to the literary and artistic community, including blog posts on children’s literature, speculative fiction, Robert Frost, current films and Walt Kelly’s political cartoon strip “Pogo.”

The current issue includes a raucous George Singleton story, “Flag Day,” about unneighborly antics; skinny dipping; the alt-right; and fraternity high-jinx. The fiction also includes work by Virginia native David Huddle and Holly Hunt.

The 22 poems in the issue address a variety of subjects, from Red Riding Hood to Welsh Monasteries to the song “Deep Purple.” While David Bottoms’ poem “A Scrawny Fox” delves into the operation of memory, former Shenandoah Poetry Prize winner Corrie Williamson’s five poems range from the amorous to earthquakes. The issue also highlights “Wahunsenacawh.” This historical piece by Staunton resident Jess Quinlan explores the burial of Powhatan, father of Pocahontas. Quinlan received this year’s Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets from Shenandoah.

Non-fiction includes an interview with poet and editor Michelle Boisseau and an essay by Lexington resident Sarah Kennedy about novels, including the acclaimed “Cool Hand Luke,” which are set in prisons. The art in the issue is by Virginian Linda Burgess.

The journal’s homepage currently features the prose piece “Leigh,” winner of the 2016 Edgar Allan Prose contest and written by W&L English Professor Lesley Wheeler.

Shenandoah was founded in 1950 by a group of W&L students, including Tom Wolfe, and existed as a print journal for 60 years. It is now in its sixth year as a no-fee on-line journal located at shenandoahliterary.org. Unsolicited work may be submitted through Submittable.com via the submissions link on the website.

The next issue will appear in April 2017, and materials may be submitted beginning in January. For further information contact the editor at rodsmith@wlu.edu.